BRITISH ISRAELISM

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22300, 24 December 1935, Page 14

BRITISH ISRAELISM

BISHOPS' PASTORAL , r WARNING TO ANGLICANS r REASON FOR ACTION A warning to the people of tho Anglican Church in New Zealand against what they describe as "tho views which are being widely propagated under the name of BritishIsrael ism" has been issued by Archbishop Averill and the six bishops in New Zealand in a pastoral letter published in the Church Gazette. The signatories to the pastoral are Archbishop Averill, and Bishops WcstWatson (Christchurch), Sprott (Wellington), Cherrington (Waikato), Williams (Waiapu), Fitchett (Duncdin), and Hilliard (Nelson). "We, the archbishop and bishops of the Anglican Church in Now Zealand, desire to warn our people against tho views which are being widely propagated under tho name of BritishIsraelism," the bishops state. "Without reflecting on the sincerity of those who aro pressing those views with such earnestness, we must nevertheless record our conviction that the views in question are founded on grave misinterpretations of Scripture, of history, of ethnology, and of language. " A Question of Fact " "While the holding of them as a speculation may not be incompatible with loyal churchmanship, yet the adoption of them as a cult or as a masterkey to the understanding of the Bible and of God's plan for the world does in our opinion seriously upset tho proportion of the Christian faith. "A question of this kind is a question of fact, not of assumption. The British-Israel theory appears to us to begin with tho assumption that the British are Israel, and then to go on to interpret Scripture and to seek for or assort facts to support the assumption. When brought to the 'acid test' of facts the theory fails." In outlining their reasons for this statement, the bishops state "that they believe that historically the theory rests on a misconception, as there was no deportation of tho 10 tribes en masse. They freely acknowledge that Jewish exiles and Jewish merchants wandered far and wide, and add that there is nothing, except lack of evidence, to prevent them believing that Jews had travelled as far as the British Isles, though as a race Jews had no love for the sea. " The Keystone of the Theory " "But," the bishops continue, "we believe it to be historically impossible to accept the British-Israel belief that in less than 100 years the comparatively small band of disillusioned and scattered Israelite exiles should have changed their religious, racial and cultural and even facial characteristics, and have then appeared as the vast nomad horde of expert horsemen and bowmen known as Scythians, who terrorised Eastern Europe and Media in turn. "And yet this is the keystone of the British-Israelite theory. "We believe that, subconsciously, the passionate desire to prove the British race part of the so-called 'lost ten tribes' is largely inspired by a sense of racial destiny, and a desire to claim permanence for the prominent position in the world now held by the British peoples," state the bishops. "The British-Israel belief is, in our opinion, a 'throw-back' to the ideas and aspirations of the old Covenant and a failure to realise that in Christ all things have become new. It does not explain, but rather confounds, the Bible message of salvation. "We issue this solemn warning because we are convinced that many of our people, and notably some of those most devoted to the Scriptures, are being induced to accept an interpretation of those Scriptures which is quite at variance with the 'good news' proclaimed by Our Lord and His Apostles."